Variable-speed drive for elevators



Aug. 10, 1948. s. A. MULKEY ET AL VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE FOR ELEVATORS Filed May 27, 1946 45 INVENTORS .Sfan/gy A. Mal/(1s mm Gran E. fiafc/re r wwm ATTORNEYS:

Patented Aug. 10, 1948 VARIABLE-SPEED DRIVEEFOB, ELEVATORS Stanley A. Mulkey Grant E. Hatcher, Lees Summit, Mo., assignors to Sam Mulkey Company, Kansas City,Mo., a'partnership Application May 2?, 1946, .Serial No. 67 2,662

This invention relatesv to a variable speeddrive,

and more particularly to a variable speed drive for elevators of the endless. conveyor type.

Elevators of the endless conveyor type usually consist of a boom which may be elevatedto various inclinations for delivering material to any suitabledelivery point. Such conveyorsare usu--- ally driven from the lower end whereby. the force is exerteclto the return portion of the conveyor, causingthe driveto. operate at a disadvantage and requiring that the conveyor be relatively tight; otherwise, .the looseness thereofat the lower end will. provide slack that will permit vibration and. excessive wear on the. conveyor parts. Such equipment is usually left in the fieldat great distances from the farmer's house where it is easy for someone to remove the drive mechanism and steal same. It is inviting loss toleave such equipment in the field; however, the drive equipment is the portion of such an elevator that ismos-t easily disposed of and with conventional equipanent. the drive usually left. on the machinesshaft to alignand support the drive'mechanism on the device to be driven; and to provide a variable speed drive mechanism which is simple to apply to the elevator, yet issturdy, compact and requires substantially no alignment to apply same.

In accomplishin these and other objects of the presentinvention, we have provided improved details of structure, the preferredforms of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a conveyor type elevator equipped with a variable speeddrive embodying the features of the. present invention.

Fig. dis a perspective .view'of ithevariableispeecl drive.

Fig; Sis a-plan view of the variable speed drive.

portions of the gear reduction housing "being broken away to better illustrate therelat-ion of the gears therein.

Referring more indetail to the drawings:

4 designates a conveyor type elevator consisting 4 Claims. (Cl. IDS-@203) .2 6 or. a boom 2 having a suitable support 3 at the lower end thereof, said boom preferably being provided with struts 4- pivotally connected tothe;

boom as at 5, saidstruts having wheels (ion the lower ends thereof. A line 1 is connected-to. the lower ends of the struts and adapted to be wound on a suitable winch mechanism indicated at 8 to draw the lower end of the strut towards the lower end of the :boom to raise the upper end thereof to any suitable elevation. Operating onthe boomis a-conveyor. 9 preferably of the endless type such as chains In connected by means of flights l I, the upper ends of :said chains operating oversprockets 52 mounted on shafts l3 supportedin bearing-s l4,

theends liofthe shaft 43 extending outwardly. from the-boom a substantial distance for a purposelater described;

The lower end :of the conveyor preferably 013-: erates .oversprockets mountedon a shaft l6 which also extends. outwardly from the sides of the. boom. The. outwardly extending portions of the shafts and ifi are adapted to support and driv ingly. connect variable speed driving mechanism n-ow'tobe-described.

The variable speed drive consists of a'houslng t8 having-a side wall 19 and acover plate .20 closingthe openside 21 of saidhousing opposite the side 19. The cover-plate and side Wall l9 are preferably provided with bearing bosses 22 and 23 respectively adapted to receive a shaft 2 1 having bores 25in the ends thereof. The shaft. may be entirely tubular if desired, said boresin the shaft 24 being of such size as to receive-the ends l5 of the shaft l3,aligning apertureszfi and 2] being provided in the shafts 24 and -I3-to re.- ceive a pin 28' to secure said shafts together and provide driving connection therethrou-gh. Mounted on the shaft'zd inthe housing l8 is a gear 29 meshing with opinion 30 fixed to a shaft'3l rotataloly supportedin spaced relation to the shaft 24 in bearing bosses 32-and 33 on the plate Ill and sidewall I9 respectively. The gear 29 and pinion 3B are preferably located adjacent the side wall I9. Adjacent the plate 20 and mounted On the shaft 3! is a gear 34 meshing with a pinion 35- mounted on ashaft 36- rotatably supported inbearingbosses 31 and 38 in the plate 20 and side wall l9 respectively. Bothof the shaftstl and 36 have ends 39 and 40 projecting outwardly relativelyto the bearings adapted to receive a sheave pulley M thereon.

The gear reduction unit is preferably suitably mounted on one end of the structural frame 42, said. frame being. of such length that the other end fl thereofprovldes.a sultable support for: a-

prime mover i i. The prime mover 44 is preferably secured to the structural frame by means of bolts 45 extending through slots 46 in the upper face of said structural frame whereby the prime mover may be moved toward or away from the gear reduction housing l8. The prime mover preferably isprovided with a sheave pulley 4], a belt 48 operatively connecting the sheave pulleys GI and 41.

In the illustrated instance the prime mover is.. I so mounted on the frame that the driving connection is made with the shaft 36 and it can be seen by Fig. 3, a substantial reduction or double reduction may be obtained through the reduction gearing providing a suitable drive forheavy loads. In cases of light loads, per-' n the conveyor. mitting faster operation, the bolts 45 may be loosened and the prime mover moved towards the gear reduction unit I8 The sheave pulley 4| may then be removed from the end of the shaft 36 and applied to the end of the shaft 31. The belt is'then-placed on thesheave and the prime mover inoved away from the gear reduction unit until the belt is tight and then the bolts 45 may be tightened to'hold the same'in place. When the drive is to the shaft 3|, it may be readily seen that there is only a slight reduction in the drive to the conveyor.

' In this structure the shaft 24 being sleeved over the end-of the shaft 13, the entire weight'of the drive unit may be carried thereon and pivoted around said shaft 13. In order to support the other end of the drive unit and preferably to maintain said unit level, particularly in case of the us'e'of gasoline engines'for the prime mover, a link 49 is connected to the prime mover end of the frame 43, the other end of said link being connected to the boom as at 56, a slot 55 being provided in the link whereby the vertical adjustment maybe had with the prime mover end of the structural frame and gear reduction unit. The only connection between the variable speed drive and the conveyor type elevator and boom is the bolt fastening the link to the elevator as at 50 and the pin. 28 which secures the shaft 2.4 to the shaft 13; therefore, by the removal of these two fastening devices the entire drive unit may be removed from the conveyor and when the elevator is not in use the drive unit may be kept in the barn or other suitable safe place.

"When it is desired to use an elevator of this type, the variable speed drive unit is taken from its place of protection into the field wherever the conveyor might be located. The shaft 24 is thensleeved over the projecting end of either the shaft l3 or I6 depending upon the end from which it is desired to drive the elevator and as will be noted, both ends of theshaft 24 project from the side of the housing whereby the drive unit may be applied to either side of the elevator depending upon the particular requirement thereof. After sleev-- ing the shaft 24 over the shaft l3, the apertures 26 and 2! are aligned and the pin 28 applied thereto. This operation may be performed with the prime mover end of the-unit hanging free. After securing the shafts l3 and 24 together, the prime mover end of the driving unit is preferably lifted to approximately a horizontal position and a bolt applied to the slots i as at 56 to connect the unit to the boom of the elevator. The elevator is then inclined to a suitable height to provide a proper delivery to the point desired.

It is believed obvious that we have providedan elevator and variable speed drive therefor which.

provides great flexibility in the attachment of the 4 drive to the elevator, gives a variation in speed, and is easily removed and applied to the elevator whereby said drive unit may be moved to a safe place when not in use.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an elevator, an endlessconveyor, a conveyor shaft-on the elevator, means on the conveyor shaft engaging the conveyor for driving same, said shaft extending outwardly from said elevator, a driving mechanism, a driving shaft in the driving-mechanism, said driving shaft having .a bore removably sleeved over a portion of the conveyor shaft and having driving connection therewith for supporting the driving mechanism for pivotal movement about the axis of said conveyor shaft, and means pivotally mounted on the driving mechanism and spaced radially of said driving shaft adapted for adjustably connecting the driving mechanism with the elevator for holding said mechanism in adjusted position.

2. In an elevator, a boom having upper and lower ends, an endless conveyor operating over the boom, a conveyor shaft at the upper end of the boom, means on the conveyor shaft engaging the conveyor for driving same, said shaft extending outwardly from said boom, a gear reduction unit, a drive shaft in the gear reduction unit, said driving shaft having a bore adapted to sleeve over a portion of said conveyor shaft and having driving connection therewith for supporting the gear reduction unit for pivotal movement about the axis of said shaft, means for driving the gear reduction unit, and means spaced from the drive shaft adjustably connecting the gear reduction unit with the boom for securing the gear reduction unit in adjusted position.

3;In an elevator, a boom having upper and lower ends, an endless conveyor operating over the boom, a conveyor shaft rotatably mounted at the upper end of the boom, means on the conveyor shaft engaging the conveyor for driving same, said shaft extending outwardly from said boom, a gear reduction unit, a drive shaft in the gear reduction unit, said driving shaft having a bore adapted to sleeve over a portion of said conveyor shaft and having driving connection therewith for supporting the gear reduction unit for pivotal movement about the axis of said shaft, a prime mover having operating connection with the gear reduction unit for driving the shaft therein, a frame having connection with the gear reduction unit and extending therefrom for supporting the prime mover, and .means spaced from the drive shaft for adjustably connecting the frame with the boom for securing the prime mover andgear reduction unit in adjusted position.

1. In an elevator, a boom having upper and lower ends, an endless chain conveyor'operating over the boom, a conveyor shaft at the upper end of the boom, sprockets on said shaft and engaging the conveyor for driving same, said shaft extending outwardly from said boom, a gear reduction unit, a drive shaft rotatably mounted in the gear reduction unit and having an end projecting therefrom, said driving shaft having a boreiin the projecting end adapted to sleeve over a portion of the outward extension of said conveyor shaft for supporting the gear reduction unit for pivotal movement about the axis of said shaft, means keying the conveyor shaft to the portion of the drive shaft sleeve thereon, a plurality of driven shafts in the gear reduction unit, a prime mover having selective operating connec- 5 6 tion with the driven shafts in the gear reduction REFERENCES CITED unit for varying the speed reduction therein, a r frame having connection with the gear reduction g fig ggigf are of recon m the unit and extending therefrom for supporting the prime mover, and means pivotally mounted on 5 UNITED ES PATENTS the frame remotely of the gear reduction unit for Number Name Date adjustably connecting the frame with the boom 765 785 Nelson July 26 1904 for securing the prime mover and gear reduction 813134 Anderson Feb 1906 unit in adjusted 898 682 Riffle Sept. 15 1908 STANLEY MULKEY- 10 2,332,729 Kiosterman Oct. 26, 1943 GRANT HATCHER- 2,343,444 Coon Mar, 7, 1944 

